Gleason: Schretzman signifies Army's focus, resilience

WEST POINT — Olivia Schretzman was about 7 when she attended her first basketball camp. She performed drills inside Army's home court of Christl Arena, her parents' future home, one day her home.

Kevin Gleason

WEST POINT — Olivia Schretzman was about 7 when she attended her first basketball camp. She performed drills inside Army's home court of Christl Arena, her parents' future home, one day her home.

Yup, she knew. She knew at least as early as the seventh grade, maybe earlier, that she wanted to attend the United States Military Academy. Her dad graduated here in 1989 after playing linebacker for three seasons. Her mom attended West Point and played a basketball season before starring at Bentley College after experiencing some academic challenges at Army.

Stacy Schretzman started to think Olivia had Division I hoops potential when she excelled on the junior high boys' team in sixth grade. The hardest part was getting Olivia to make another college visit. No, she stomped a foot when Stacy suggested Olivia visit Fordham, or anywhere. "I want to play basketball for Coach (Dave) Magarity,'' she said.

So in a room full of cadets who wanted to be no place other than West Point, especially on Monday night, there was none that fit better into her fatigues than 6-foot-1 junior forward Olivia Lea Schretzman.

She celebrated the NCAA women's basketball championship Selection Show on ESPN with teammates, a party that began with Army's win over Holy Cross Saturday night for the Patriot League title and automatic bid. The Black Knights received a No. 13 seed and drew fourth-seeded Maryland on its home court. It didn't really matter, never does to rare tourney teams such as Army that cherish each bid.

Army probably could have been matched against top-ranked Connecticut without spoiling the party. Nothing would dampen this shindig, especially for the Schretzmans, Stacy and Charles, both West Point athletic department employees taking in the scene from a back table.

Talk about pride. It is one thing witnessing your child become the rare kid to tackle West Point. Olivia stuffs a weightier folder into her back pack. She was responsible for 40 cadets as platoon sergeant first semester this academic year. She is a member of Team Red, White & Blue, which does physical endeavors with wounded veterans such as group runs. She will spend part of her summer at Fort Bragg, N.C., on the Gold Star team, which works with kids who have lost parents to combat.

Oh, and she plans to become one of the first female members of Army's Special Forces, the Army Rangers. With West Point tentatively planning to open the infantry branch to females for the first time in 2016, Schretzman will try to branch into military police with her goal of attending Ranger School.

"I just love to challenge myself and bring out the most in people,'' said Schretzman, taking a relatively modest 18 credit hours this semester and carrying a cumulative grade point average of about 3.0. "We are playing for a lot more than for ourselves. That's why I came here.''

Such heady responsibilities shouldn't overshadow Schretzman's value to the basketball team. She is a captain and starter averaging 6.3 points and 5.7 rebounds. Schretzman is that rugged player on every great team who takes pride in setting screens and taking charges and clearing the lane and grabbing rebounds in traffic.

Army (25-7) faced an early turning point after losing its season opener to St. Francis. Schretzman helped teammates view the larger picture of their mission. The Black Knights followed with seven straight wins and finished with Army's most wins as a Division I program. Not surprisingly, the woman with designs on Ranger School devised the team motto "Ranger Up'' to signify the team's 100 percent focus and resilience.

"We did better when it wasn't about the pressures of the game, the pressures of the week,'' Schretzman said. "We made it about the celebration of who we are going to be.''

"Aside from being a great leader, she's also a great teammate,'' said Army's sensational guard, Kelsey Minato. "She always comes up with different ways to motivate us.''

As Army's bracket flashed across the television screen, Stacy and Charles Schretzman leaned against one another, affectionately holding hands at a back table. What a day for Army basketball. What a day for a kid who never wanted to be anywhere else.